Quitting
by denpa wave chick saki
Summary: In which a miscommunication between roommates leads to nudity.


_Well, you done done me, and you bet I felt it_

_I tried to be chill, but you're so hot that I melted_

_I fell right through the cracks_

_And now I'm trying to get back_

In the three months that Galinda had known her green roommate, she had come to despise her, but only because there was something about Elphaba Thropp that unnerved the blonde to no end. Oh, it wasn't the constant sarcasm, or the cases of "reading sulks" that put Galinda off; it was that without even trying, Elphaba Thropp had become, in essence, the "forbidden fruit".

It went like this: the blonde had come bursting through the door to their room one rainy afternoon after making a mad dash from her afternoon class.

"It's raining cats and dogs out there," she said as she shook out her umbrella.

"That's scientifically impossible."

Galinda looked up and found her green roommate jack-knifed in the corner of her bed, her nose buried in a book as usual. The blonde probably wouldn't have even noticed her in the dim lighting if Elphaba hadn't spoken up.

"I realize that," Galinda said with slight annoyance. "It's an expression."

"A ridiculous one."

Galinda sighed as she entered her closet to strip out of her wet clothes. As she was doing that, Elphaba marked her page before closing her book and setting it down.

"I'm going to wash up, Galinda," she called to her roommate as she stood and headed for the bathroom, closing the door behind her, but neglecting to lock it.

Galinda, who had just pulled her dress over her head, did not hear Elphaba's words, but instead wrapped a towel around herself and emerged from her closet, saying, "I'm going to take a shower. Don't bother looking up." The blonde approached the bathroom, her mind registering too late that the door was closed. She pushed it open, just as Elphaba let her dress fall from her body.

It was as though time had slowed; she could see every fold, every crease in the navy fabric as it pooled around the green woman's feet. Galinda's mind told her to stop before her eyes wandered farther, but the thought registered too slowly. Her eyes slowly traveled up a pair of green legs, then her torso, and finally up to her face just as Elphaba turned to look at her. The blonde could feel her face turning pink as her eyes fell on the green woman's taut stomach and almost non-existent breasts.

Dark chocolate eyes met bright sapphire ones. Neither woman moved. Galinda told herself that this was wrong, she shouldn't be seeing her roommate like this! This… this was something only someone who loved the green woman should see! Yet Elphaba Thropp, who always hid behind a sarcastic shell, was now exposed and vulnerable to her blonde roommate.

Elphaba tried to read the expression on Galinda's face, but it was such a mixture of emotions that she found it near impossible to pick just one. She realized that this was probably too much green for the blonde to take in at once, so she opened her mouth to say something, _anything_, to help the awkwardness, but Galinda chose to slam the door shut, creating a wall between her and the green woman.

The blonde leaned against the wall, her heart racing. She knew she would never be able to erase the image of Elphaba's naked body from her mind… sweet Lurline, why did Elphaba have to be so beautiful? The blonde almost hated her for it! Elphaba Thropp, the outcast of Shiz University was the most amazing creature Galinda Upland had ever seen in her seventeen years of existence… and Galinda hated her for it.

And that's where the two women were now: sitting at dinner with their friends and listening to them prattle on. It had been a week since the bathroom incident, and though Galinda had believed time would help her forget, it only made things worse. The scene had replayed itself hundreds of times in her mind, distracting her from anything and everything.

The blonde glanced up at the green woman, who was sitting across from her and reading (no surprise) while playing with a strand of her raven hair, which Galinda secretly envied. The fact that Elphaba seemed so calm about the whole situation unnerved the blonde even more. The green woman hadn't brought it up once during the week, which was driving Galinda out of her mind.

"Galinda, did you hear what I said?"

The blonde looked over at Pfannee. "No. I didn't," she replied, wondering why she still allowed those three airheads to hang around. She turned her attention back to Elphaba, who was currently examining Nessa's coffee mug at the brunette's comment that "her drink looked funny".

Elphaba could feel her roommate's harsh glare on her, as was common lately. She glanced up over the top of her glasses at the blonde. "Is something about me upsetting you?"

The blonde clenched her fists angrily; how dare Elphaba have the nerve to ask her such a thing! Still, she had to keep it in… remain calm…

"Galinda, seriously, relax," Fiyero said.

And that sent the blonde over the edge. She stood up so suddenly that her chair was knocked to the floor, the thud immediately silencing the table.

"I've got something to say, and I'm going to say it to you, and you, and you, and especially you, Elphaba Thropp!" the blonde almost shouted.

The green woman in question raised an eyebrow.

Galinda wanted to let everything loose: that she couldn't shake the image of Elphaba's naked body from her head; that it haunted her every waking moment; that there was the very real possibility that she had developed some sort of feelings for her green roommate and had used hate to cover it up, but what came out instead was a high-pitched scream.

The table cringed at the noise, waiting for it to subside.

"What's gotten into you?" Fiyero asked once Galinda's scream died down.

"I am a sawed off shotgun full of secrets and emotions!" the blonde replied. "At any moment, truth buckshot could come spewing out! Watch out!"

"That's enough," Elphaba said, unaware that she had suddenly become rather nervous at whatever Galinda was holding inside.

"Truer words were never spoken. I QUIIIIIIIT!" the blonde practically sang, pointing a slim finger at the green woman. "I'm quitting you! And this, a-and… all of this!"

No one really knew how to reply, so Galinda chose that moment to leave the table, trembling slightly. That type of venting had only slightly helped, as she still had her secret locked deep inside her.

And that was how Elphaba found the blonde later that night: sitting at her vanity and brushing her hair with some hint of anger.

"So… does this shotgun have the safety on and the trigger locked?"

Galinda looked at the green woman in her mirror. "Don't mock me. What I said back there was all very true."

"I don't doubt that, especially after you kind of exploded." Elphaba approached the blonde from behind, causing Galinda's heart rate to speed up and the blonde to pause in her hair brushing. "It was actually quite a good use of metaphors, but what's this about secrets and emotions?"

"Don't act as though you don't know," the blonde practically spat.

"If you are referring to the incident last week, I don't understand why you're still dwelling on that."

Galinda whipped around to face her roommate. "That is exactly what I am referring to, and how can you tell me not to dwell on it? I saw you completely naked, Elphaba Thropp!"

"And aside from the green, was it really any different than anything you've seen on yourself?"

Now Galinda understood why Elphaba was so calm about it. She thought this only had to do with anatomy; she did not understand the feelings that had accompanied the sight. Galinda wanted to scream; she wanted to throw her brush as hard as she could at Elphaba's intelligent head.

But the blonde did neither of these things. Instead, she threw herself at her roommate, kissing her with the intent of causing pain. She heard a muffled noise come from Elphaba, and felt the green woman jerk in surprise. Good. The blonde wanted Elphaba to know exactly how she'd been feeling this entire week.

"This is what I've been holding back," she growled, pulling away from her roommate.

Elphaba stared at the petite blonde, her brain struggling to process what was happening. "G-Galinda… I… I didn't realize…"

"Of course you didn't! You're too busy burying your nose in your dusty literature to notice that I've wanted nothing more than to see _this_," she ripped Elphaba's dress open with ferocity that surprised even her, "again!"

Elphaba took Galinda's wrists gently and looked deep into her sapphire eyes. "Galinda… all you had to do was ask."

Now it was the blonde's turn to stare. "Huh?"

"Did you think it was an accident I let you see me like that? Did you think I just happened to step into the bathroom before you? Your routine is always the same, and I knew full well of your intentions to bathe." The green woman ran a hand through her roommate's golden curls.

"You… you planned that?"

"I had to see… if you felt… what I was feeling."

Galinda embraced the green woman tightly. "Elphaba… you terrible green thing…"

The green woman returned the embrace. "All you have to do… is ask… and I'm yours."


End file.
